Captain J H Watson's version, he as a young man having been in India, and he derives the name from "ruti", the Hindustani word for bread.

[1] The district was used as a Government stockyard, and in a lengthy list which Governor Macquarie prepared of the buildings and works erected during his regime between January 1810 and November 1821, we find the following: Macquarie seems to have forgotten that he had already carved a large slice off the reservation by giving Major Druitt in October 1821 a grant of 1000 acres 'out of the Rooty Hill Government allotment on Ross's Creek'.

A few months later he received an appointment as commissariat storekeeper at Bathurst, and on April 5 set out from Sydney, at the head of a cavalcade of bullock wagons, carts, drays and belongings over the Blue Mountains to their new home.

Late that night the party reached Rooty Hill, a distance of 25 miles from Sydney, the Government House was ready to receive them.

...Hawkins described the place "I could have been contented to remain there for ever - the house was good, and the land around like a fine wooded park in England".

The oak tree (also shown in a photo) would have been small in Macquarie's time, but is now a veteran, ... a sturdy sample of the genus' (sic).

[1] A 1992 DUAP listing described the remains of the depot to include: mounds of bricks, stone flagging, timber slabs, and a five-metre-diameter (16 ft) well, however, with the exception of the well, none of these structures are visible and appear unlikely to have survived.

However it does retain the overall form and elements of the house's garden, and open space, remnant of the former Government Stock Farm.

[1] The station at Rooty Hill was the next principal one to that at Camden for the grazing of the Government horned cattle and horses in the early 1800s.

[4][1] Government Depot Site was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.

The (former) Government Depot site is of historical significance for its association with Governor Macquarie and other travellers and early settlers in the Blacktown/Rooty Hill district.

[6][1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

It has further significance for the role it played in the raising of stock for the young colony and for its association with early industry in the district.

These may provide insights into field sizes, shapes, fencing materials and types, animal and crop residues.